EV Tribune: Fla. group touts advantages in fight for Cubs

A Florida development team took aim at Mesa on Thursday by boasting of their ongoing talks with the Chicago Cubs as they work to snag the team’s spring training from Arizona.

The Ricketts family, which owns the Cubs, recently traveled to the area around Naples, Fla., to look at potential spring training facility sites, said Craig Bouchard, whose Chicago-based Esmark company is talking with the Cubs. With the owners coming to Mesa next week for the first time, Bouchard tried to portray the sequence of visits as an advantage or signal that benefits Florida.

“They came here first, and they’re going out there next,” Bouchard said.